A panel of judges has approved the discharge of a 64-year-old pedophile from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.

The three Ramsey County judges issued a formal, written order Friday granting a provisional discharge for Clarence Opheim, originally of Minneapolis. The same panel issued a non-binding ruling in support of the release last week, action that came after there were no objections from prosecutors or the state Department of Human Services.

Opheim was originally admitted to a state security hospital in 1993 and entered the sex offender program in 1998.

Since the program began in 1994, only one other offender has been provisionally discharged. The state released an offender in 2000, but he violated the terms of his release and returned to the program in 2003.

A special review board reporting to the Department of Human Services has stated that Opheim “reported 29 victims of his sexual crimes and a total of approximately 100 separate incidences of sexual offenses” against children ranging in age from 8 to 17. Opheim was convicted in the 1980s of three counts of criminal sexual conduct.

Opheim’s attorney, William Lubov, says his client recognizes he “carries a heavy burden, not only for himself but others in the program.”

Opheim is expected to move to a halfway house in the Twin Cities in the next few weeks. He will have to wear an electronic monitor and attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings.

– Staff and wire reports

ROSEVILLE

Man charged after standoff with police

A 23-year-old Roseville man has been charged after a seven-hour standoff with police Monday.

The Roseville city attorney’s office charged Alan Didi Wiedrick with obstruction of the legal process and disobeying a police officer’s orders.

Police were called to Wiedrick’s home in the 300 block of West County Road C2 after he posted Facebook messages indicating he had attempted to kill himself earlier in the day. He failed to respond to requests to leave his home, police said, and eventually was subdued by a SWAT team.

If convicted, the misdemeanor violations could net Wiedrick 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine on each count.

– John Brewer

COTTAGE GROVE

Man charged with sex assault of boy

A Cottage Grove man has been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in the teen’s Massachusetts home.

Matthew Feeney was released on $25,000 cash bail after pleading not guilty Thursday in Attleboro District Court to indecent assault and battery, enticing a child and committing unnatural acts.

Prosecutors allege the incident occurred in December 2010 while Feeney, 43, was visiting Norton, Mass. The boy and Feeney know each other.

Prosecutors requested $100,000 cash bail, saying the defendant has convictions in Minnesota for similar crimes in the early 1990s while he was a camp counselor and a youth director at a church, the Sun Chronicle of Attleboro reported.

Forrest Boe, a longtime Minnesota Department of Natural Resources administrator, has been named to head that agency’s division of forestry.

Boe, deputy director of parks and trails, will succeed Dave Epperly, who left the forestry post last fall.

The forestry division is one of the DNR’s largest, with 350 employees. It is responsible for wildfire protection on 17 million acres of state forest lands, manages state forests for timber production and other activities and works with the forest-products industry to provide 30 percent of the state’s wood fiber.

Boe, 52, is expected to start work at the new job during the next several weeks.

– Dennis Lien

MINNEAPOLIS

Man’s body found; death is ‘suspicious’

A man’s body was found Friday near Plymouth and Bryant avenues a few blocks west of Interstate 94 in North Minneapolis.

An employee at a nearby business reported the discovery to police around 4:30 a.m., said Sgt. Stephen McCarty, a police spokesman.

The body was found in the street near a trash bin, he said.

Police consider the death suspicious. Anyone with information is asked to call the police department’s tip line at 612-692-8477.

-Brady Gervais

STATE SENATE

GOP leader: 3 likely to face recall votes

The Republican leader of the state Senate said Friday that he expects recall elections to proceed against three of his colleagues, despite challenges they made to thousands of signatures on petitions seeking their ouster from office.

Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he is hopeful, though, that his election can be blocked through the challenges he made to the Government Accountability Board on Thursday. As for the others, Fitzgerald said, “They’re not even close.”

Fitzgerald was the only one of the four who clearly challenged more than enough signatures to void an election. But whether to reject the signatures is up to the accountability board. Its deadline for deciding is March 19.

The other senators are Pam Galloway of Wausau, Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and Van Wanggaard of Racine.

– Associated Press

POLITICS

Reform bill lacking, schools chief says

Wisconsin state superintendent Tony Evers is upset with Gov. Scott Walker over an education reform bill that doesn’t place charter and private voucher schools under a new accountability system.

Evers said the bill, which he and Walker worked on together, misses an opportunity to deliver on promises made by Walker, legislators and education leaders, including advocates for charter and private voucher schools.

“While everyone claimed that we were creating this system together, it seems as if some have walked away,” Evers said in a statement.

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie told the Wisconsin State Journal that the accountability changes weren’t included in the bill because there was too much uncertainty about what needs to be reformed.

– Associated Press

MILWAUKEE

Obama will visit lock manufacturer

President Barack Obama will visit Master Lock in Milwaukee on Wednesday.

A White House official announced the location of the president’s visit Friday. The official said Obama plans to discuss the importance of American manufacturing and companies investing in American manpower.

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